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How to navigate canceled or delayed holiday flights

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Published  December 13, 2023 10:25am EST
I-Team
FOX 5 Atlanta

Navigating holiday air travel

You can control a lot about road travel, but you can't control air travel. Canceled flights can result in real holiday heartburn. Here's some ways to help prevent that from happening.

ATLANTA - This holiday travel season is expected to be busy. According to AAA, it's going to be busier than last year with 115.2 million travelers. What will be the same as last year is that there will be canceled and delayed flights. Learning to navigate this smartly will make your trip more enjoyable. 

The good news for Atlantans is that Delta, our hometown airline, has the best on-time record with 78%. The big airlines are at the top. The more budget-friendly airlines lag a bit. Frontier comes in last with a reported 56.6% on-time record.

Late is a pain, sure. But canceled flights are where the real holiday heartburn sets in, so do these three things to alleviate some pain. 

1. Have your airline’s app on your phone. Learn to navigate it now. Memorize your password. 

2. Allow notifications to come to your phone. You can also turn off that setting after the holidays. 

3. Download an app called FlightAware. It'll help you double-track what’s going on in the air on your departure day.

A TSA dog is seen with his handler as travelers are seen ahead of the fourth of July holiday weekend at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on June 30, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the travel expert site "The Points Guy," it’s recommended to know the departure and landing destinations' weather forecasts very early. If you see bad weather looming, try to change that flight to a day earlier, or day-of leave at another time of the day to avoid the poor forecast. For example, if you are flying at 5 p.m. and you see bad weather coming, try to reschedule to a 7 a.m. flight. 

If your flight is going to be delayed, try re-booking it quickly online, with the app, or at the kiosk. If the airline’s phone number is backlogged, try calling through the international number. That’s a Points Guy workaround. If that doesn’t work, then try a ticketing agent. Speed is your friend here.

Also, some folks just re-book with another airline and hope their original airline will refund them later. Check to see if your credit card has a trip delay or cancelation refund policy.

Don't be late for check-in, and be nice.